It’s a crucial time for the social housing sector. Our housing crisis is as severe as it has ever been, the tragedy at Grenfell has thrust social housing into the spotlight and the government’s position on housing, and its approach to the social housing sector in particular, has changed significantly in recent months.

But what is the role and purpose of social housing today? What do people think social housing should be? What is the real value of social housing to society? How can providers make sure their work is relevant and responsive to the peoples’ housing needs? And how can government support social housing to maximise its potential to provide many of the solutions to our housing crisis?

These and other fundamental questions lie at the heart of Rethinking social housing.

Rethinking social housing put the sector in the driving seat and combined original research and engagement with the sector, tenants, politicians and the public to explore fundamental questions about the future of social housing.

'UK social housing should be celebrated just like the NHS' - Melanie Rees, our head of policy, tells Guardian Housing Network it's time to embace social housing as a central pillar of society -Read more

Major report calls on government to back social housing as polling reveals strong support - a story about our final Rethinking social housing report launched at Housing 2018 - Read more

'Social housing must not be seen as a place of last resort' - Stuart Davies, Sovereign's divisional director, says it's time for us to redefine social housing - Read more

'At time like this it's what we are and who we're for that really matters' - Riverside chief executive Carol Matthews says it is a crucial time for us to 'reclaim social housing' - Read more

'It's critical people living and working in social housing help to shape it's future' - David Edwards, vice chair of PA Housing, says it's time to take the debate on social housing forward - Read more

'I believe passionately in the value of social housing - but we could do so much more' - Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive of Peabody, one of our sponsors, says housing has failed to keep pace with the changing world around it - Read more

We gave people who live, work or are interested in social housing the chance to be part of Rethinking social housing in our specially-designed workshops. More than 2,000 people took part in the workshops and another 1,000 took part in an online survey posing similar questions.